


Perfect Timing

by minni_k



Series: The Little Love Cafe [2]
Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Coming Out, Homecoming, Love, M/M, Post-High School
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-15
Updated: 2019-08-15
Packaged: 2020-09-01 07:01:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,350
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20254075
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/minni_k/pseuds/minni_k
Summary: "Thanks... It's made in house..." Yixing said. "Did you just say you were--""Gay?" Junmyeon finished placing the cup back on the table. "Yes. I am...Does that make you uncomfortable?""What? No.. NO!" Yixing responded, not realizing he had raised his voice. "It was just a little surprising to me is all...""That I'm gay?" Junmyeon asks"That you'd admit it,"





	Perfect Timing

The small golden bell rang as the door opened, a tall man slowly walking in with a small smile on his face. He looked around the small shop as if memorizing the store, not seeing it for what felt like months. After a few moments, he processed to walk to the counter and waited until the cashier noticed him. As he waited, he decided to change his position, wanting it to give his co-worker a good surprise. He quickly moved behind the counter, leaning against it as he watched the girl try her hardest to change the signs above her. He waited until deciding that helping her was more important than trying to surprise her. The man let out a sigh before walking behind her and holding onto the small handle to flip the signs.

"You know," He said, the mandarin phrase rolling off his tongue with ease. The girl quickly turned around, her clear brown eyes looking up to the older as he moved the signs. "It would be a lot easier if you asked for help every once in a while." The man expected a snarky and somewhat sassy response back from the girl, but instead, he was greeted with a hug; one that was so tight he felt that if he hadn't been released when he was a moment later, he would've died. "Woah! What's up with you?" the man asked the girl with a little laugh.

"I'm glad you're back, Xing," she said. "I've been here with that idiot for 3 weeks alone and I was about to lose it." Yixing looked over to his left to see the younger man in front of the dessert case a few yards away from him. He was closer to the girl's age than his but he was still a good friend. The man looked content as he organized the little desserts, similar to the look he had when he was around the girl, making stupid jokes. Yixing laughed at her comment.

"Well, I'm sorry to disappoint Jia," Yixing started. "But I don't come back officially until next week," The girl looked at him before playfully hitting his arm, taking back her thanks from a minute earlier. Yixing simply laughed as he looked around, realizing how empty the store had been. It was no surprise, there weren't many people who came in during the daylight hours of the week. They obviously had their rushes during breakfast and lunch like any restaurant but the story never seemed to be full unless it was past midnight, full of college students who were doing papers, studying, or just out for a late-night dinner. He looked around, his eyes naturally following the vines of Japanese cherry blossoms that lined the walls when his eyes stopped on a man that was sitting by the window, a small mug in front of him as he looked out the window. Something about the man seemed familiar.

"Oh yeah," The girl said, noticing Yixing looking at him. "He's been in here or the last couple of hours or so." Yixing looked at Jia a little confused as she told him to move in closer, putting her mouth next to his ear. "I think he got stood up." He looked at the man again before taking a deep breath, walking slowly up to the table, trying not to scare the man. When he was close enough, the mystery man looked up, seeming to look a little bit surprised.

"Hi," Yixing said, flashing a small smile as he spoke. Yixing looked at the man for a small second before recognizing his face from many years before. His somewhat rounded cheeks had slimmed down and had formed into a sharp jawline that was worth showing off. The thick glasses he'd wear were gone as he looked at the taller with his deep brown eyes, the eyes he'd used to be cautious not to meet as they both walked down the hallway. The man gave him a small smile before standing up, offering his hand. Being a gentleman must've been intertwined in his DNA; he was a natural. 

"Yixing?" the man asked, a little confused by his presence. 

"Junmyeon," Yixing responded as the man got up, opening his arms to hug him. "It's so nice to see you. It's been what... 3 years?"

"Yeah. 3 years." Yixing said.

"What are you doing here? I thought you moved back to China after graduation," Junmyeon asked. 

"Yeah, I did for a couple of months before coming back for college," Yixing said. "I'm in my third year. I work here to help out from time to time."

"That's... great," Junmyeon said, letting out a sigh as he spoke, a smile present on his face. The two awkwardly sat with each other before Yixing noticed the man's cup almost empty.

"Why don't I fill that up for you?" Yixing offered, picking up the cup. Before the other could deny his offer, he was already heading for the back. He walked through the door, seeing as Jia and her counterpart, Zhen, bickering as always. The two only became quiet once he nervously began opening cabinets, looking for something.

"Woah... What's wrong?"

"That guy out there... We went to high school together," Yixing said.

"Okay?" Zhen said, not completely understanding what that's supposed to tell him. "Did you like him or something?" The look the man gave in response was all Jia needed to rush out of the room, looking for the man in question. Yixing wanted to run after her but decided to let her go, giving himself a few moments before having to see the man again. "Wait?"

"We have... history," Yixing answered, pouring some coffee into the cup. 

"Good history? or..."

"It's complicated," Yixing said. " Can you please go out there and get her before she freaks him out and makes this worse for me?" With a small nod, Zhen ran out, heading to get the girl as Yixing finished the drink. Looking out the small window that separated the back from the front. He looked over to the man, memories of the two of them coming back to him. A mix of feelings filled him as he looked at the man talking to the girl in the lobby, his awkward smile lighting up the room. He took in a deep breath before picking up the cup and putting a smile on his face, walking towards the table where Zhen was currently holding Jia in his arms, trying his best to move the girl away as she switched from Korean to Chinese rapidly. 

"Yixing," Junmyeon said, seeing the man walking up. Yixing put the cup in front of him as he slides past the two teenagers, whispering a small promise to Jia, making her turn back to the kitchen, pulling Zhen behind her. Yixing let out a small sigh of relief before looking back at the man in front of him, a small smile still on his face. 

"I'm sorry about the two of them," Yixing said. "They're very excitable."

"I can see," Junmyeon said, with a small laugh. "But it's okay." The two sat in silence for a few moments before the other gathered the courage to keep the conversation going, something he's not used to doing.

"So, what were you doing here?" Yixing asked. "Jia told me you've been waiting in here for a while." Junmyeon took a moment before looking up to Yixing and letting out a small chuckle. He rubbed the back of his neck casually, a habit he had since he was a child. A habit that usually meant that his next words weren't something he'd want to hear.

"I was waiting for my date," Junmyeon said. Something in Yixing's chest broke a little hearing those words. Without a real reaction, he just sat and looked to Junmyeon as he looked back to the window, seeing the people walk down the city street as the sun began to set. "I guess it wasn't meant to be."

"Maybe," Yixing said. "To be honest... I'd still expect you to be with Ha-Yoon." The name made Junmyeon look to the other curiously. "You guys were like the number one couple in high school. Seemed like you could get through anything."

"We could..." Junmyeon said, beginning to reminisce. "Ha-Yoon was perfect, there was just one thing neither of us could overlook."

"What was that?"

"That I like men," Yixing took a double take as those for words casually slipped out of the man's mouth. It wasn't something that was just casually said in a conversation. Junmyeon ignored the surprised look on the man's face as he picked up his coffee and took a sip. He let out a groan of joy as he drank the hot beverage, letting it sit in his mouth for a few moments before swallowing it. "This is really good coffee."

"Thanks... It's made in house..." Yixing said. "Did you just say you were--"

"Gay?" Junmyeon finished placing the cup back on the table. "Yes. I am." Yixing just stared at him as he looked at him with intense eyes, as if he was a hawk, waiting to see the tiniest muscle move. "Does that make you uncomfortable?"

"What?" Yixing said, trying to recall what the man had asked. "No.. NO!" his volume unintentionally raised without him realizing it, making him feel a little embarrassed. Junmyeon watched as the man looked around as if there were a dozen eyes on him at the moment when in reality, it was just him and a student in the far corner of the room. He laughs. "It was just a little surprising to me is all..." 

"That I'm gay?" Junmyeon asks as he watched Yixing fidget with his fingers in his lap.

"That you'd admit it," Yixing responded, not thinking. Realizing what he said, he looked to the other with big eyes, embarrassed once again. "I just meant that--"

"That it would've been nice for me to say it that night?" Junmyeon asked, kind expecting for this topic to come up at one point or another. "When we..." Yixing felt his cheeks heat up as he remembers that night. It was their senior year. Homecoming, or as Baekhyun had called it 'homo'-coming due to the number of same-sex relationships at the time. He had been alone while the other was drunk. For Yixing, it was a dream come true, having his crush come talk to him, laugh with him, even kiss him for the first time. He thought after having a teacher pull them off of each other, that there was something there. Those dreams were shattered the next day when the other told him not to speak about what happened as a favor. The man gladly did it, with a smile and a broken heart. But Baekhyun, who decided to try a 'reveal' the man in front of the student body, did not. He was lucky that the other didn't hate him for his friend's actions.

"I meant that I'm glad that you are embracing who you are," Yixing said. Junmyeon looked at the man, biting the inside of his cheek as he tried to think of what to say first. Wondering what his response would be. 

"I'm sorry for back then," Junmyeon said. "I shouldn't have kissed you when I didn't know where I was. And I shouldn't have asked you to keep something like that a secret for me."

"We were kids," Yixing said. "Neither of us knew any better."

"Yeah... it was just a case of bad timing." Junmyeon looked out the window, realizing that it was almost dark out, a sign that he should be going. "Dang it," he said to himself. " I stayed out too late."

"Seems like you have a habit of that," Yixing said. Junmyeon looked at him a little confused as he stood up. "Bad with time I mean."

"I think I'm starting to get the hang of it," Junmyeon said, putting on his jacket. He took one last sip of his coffee before beginning to walk out. Yixing put his head down, not wanting to watch the man leave. He was sitting with his thoughts, waiting to hear the small bell on the door ring, when it never came. Curious, he turned to face the door, only to be inches away from Junmyeon, who was now looking at him with a small smile. "See...Perfect Timing." Leaving the other breathless, Junmyeon walked out the door, looking back through the window to see the man still watching him with big eyes and a slightly opened mouth like he had left him. He laughed and shook his head and the other's innocence before walking to his car. 

Yixing watched as the man's walked turned into a small jog. "Come again," he said to himself, the words being stuck in his throat for the last minute or so. Junmyeon's last words put a smile on his face, his heart beginning to beat faster and faster as he thought about the man. 

"I think he likes you!" Jia yelled. Yixing turned to see Jia resting her elbows comfortable on the counter, the rest of her body hidden below it as she stood on her knees instead of her feet.

"I think the feeling is mutual," Zhen said from behind the girl, his arms crossed as he gave Yixing a knowing look. The man felt his cheeks begin to heat up, only creating more teasing for the two teens. Yixing rolled his eyes as he let out a little laugh. 

"Shut up and start cleaning so that we can leave before the night shift gets here," Yixing said, looking at his watch. The two continued to laugh but did as they were told, beginning to do a few of their duties as the walked to the back. Yixing got up from his chair and picked up the cup that still sat on the table. He looked at it fondly, before taking a sip from the opposite end of the cup, letting out a groan of delight.

"Perfect"


End file.
